Hand luggage



April 7, 1931- G. H. WHEARY ET AL, 1,799,877

HAND LUGG AGE Filed April 22, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet l P 7, 1931- G. H. WHEARY E'T AL 1,799,877

HAND LUGGAGE Ap 1931- G. H. WHEARY ET AL HAND LUGGAGE Filed April 22, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Apr. 7, 1931 UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE GEORGE HENRY WHEARY AND BENJAMIN M. HAMLIN, OF RACINE, WISCONSIN, AS!

SIGNORS T0 WHEARY TRUNK COMPANY, OF RACINE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN HAND LUGGAGE Application filed April 22, 1929. Serial No. 357,088.

Modern travel requirements decree that hand luggage be exceptionally light weight, and, at the same time, so devised that a num ber of garments may be 'carried without wrinkling. Heretofore, this has been attained only by the sacrifice of light weight, the hand luggage provided for this purpose having been practically miniature wardrobe trunks with a garment section having hangers, and they were far from being convenientand beauty, inasmuch as the feminine purchaser buy-s mostly with her eyes.

Another object of this invention resides in i the provision of a removable garment support, or frame, over which a number of dresses or other like garments may be draped and'which is so positioned within the case as to swing outwardly and rest against the open cover and permit ready access to the interior of the case.

A further object of this invention resides in the provision of a garment support or frame which is so arranged that when the case is opened with the frame resting on the open cover, the outermost garments draped thereon may be thrown back over the cover to expose an inner garment on the frame and permit its ready removal without disturbing the position or arrangement of the outermost garments.

And a still further object of this invention resides in the provision of a luggage carrier of the character described which is provided with a partition dividing it into garment and shoe receiving compartments, the partition being so constructed that portions of the shoes extend into the lower part of the garment compartment whereby the width of its major portion may be increased.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, our invention resides in the novel construc-. tion, combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter described and more particularly defined by the appended claims, it being understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the hereindisclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of the claim-s.

In the accompanying drawings, we have il- 'lustrated one complete example of the physical embodiment of our invention constructed according to the best mode We have so far devised for the practical application of the principles thereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a hand case or luggage embodying our invention, zaid view illustrating the same in open posilon; I

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the garment supporting frame with parts broken away; I

Figure 3 is .a cross sectional View taken through Figure 1 on the plane of the line Figure 4 is a perspective View of the elements comprising the means carried by the case and in which the ends of the garment supporting frame are removably received;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary, perspective view taken through Figure l on the plane of the line 55, and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a portion of the partition which divides the garment receiving compartment.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals' designate like parts throughout the several views, 5 represents the main section of a luggage carrier of the case type, having a cover 6.hingedly connected along one marginal edge. The case is further provided with a handle 7 and locking devices comprising main section carried parts 8 and cover carried members 9; the locking devices being so arranged that the cover carried members 9 are movable in a plane parallel with the cover portion on which they are mounted, and when in unlocked position, as

illustrated in Figure 1, are disposed directly over the cover wall, thus having no projecting obstructions on which the garments might catch and become torn, in the manner later described. i

The main section of the case is divided into a shoe compartment 10 and a garment compartment 11 by a partition 12 fixed to the front and rear walls 13 and 14, respectively, with its lower edge 15 terminating above the bottom of the case, as best illustrated in Figure 5. The space between the lower edge 15 of the partition 12 and the bottom of the case is closed by a suitable fabric 16 connected with the partition 12 and the bottom of the case so that the toes of shoes protruding through said space are received in the folds of the fabric 16 which protects the garments in the compartment 11 against contact therewith. This construction also permits the major depth of the compartment 11 to be of increased width.

The shoe receiving compartment 10 is provided with a cover 17, hingedly connected with the top edge of the partition 12. When closed, the outer free end of the cover rests on a stop 18 fixed to the adjacent end of the wall of the case, where it is secured by snap fasteners 19. A cloth pocket 20 for stockings and the like is sewed to the underside of the cover along its hinged edge and sides with its open side provided with an elastic 21 to yieldably retain the entrance thereto closed.

The wardrobe compartment 11 is divided into a garment compartment proper and a well 22 by a removable partition 23, having its end slidably received in channel guide members 24, one of which is fixed to the partition 12 and the other to the opposite end wall of the case. The removable partition 23 has the lower portion of its end adjacent the partition 12 cut away, as at 25, to accommc date the fabric closure 16 and the toes of the shoes received therein, and if desired may also be provided with an article receiving pocket 26 similar to the pocket 20 carried by the cover 17.

Dresses and other garments are conveniently supported on a frame member 27 consisting of a substantially U shaped member 28, the arms 29 of which have their outer ends directed at an angle and pivotally connected as at 30, with attachin members 31, by whlch the frame is remova ly secured in the main section of the case. The attaching members 31. also have their ends directed angularly to align with the angularly positioned ends of the arms 29 of the frame when the attaching members are received in main section carried channel members 32, and the frame is in closed or lowered position.

One channel member 32 is secured to the partition 12 and the other to the opposite end wall of the case, and each consists of a back plate 33 and a front plate 34 secured together by the securing means which likewise attac the channel members to their respective supports. The front plates 34 are struck outwardly at their medial portion, as at 35, to provide the channel proper in which the attaching members 31 are received. To prevent accidental detachment of the members 31 out of their respective channels, each back plate 33 has its lower portion slit at two points in alignment with the sides of the channel 35, and has its material 36 between the slits directed inwardly into the channel. Inwardly projecting beads 37 are struck from the portions 36 to be yieldably urgedinto apertures 38 formed in the attaching members 31, so that when they are inserted in their respective channels the spring tension of the portions 36 will hold them until sufficient force is exerted to detach the beads 37. i

The closed end 39 of the U shaped frame member '27 has a substantially semi-circular bar 40 secured thereto, the outer face of which may be padded and covered,as at 41, to prevent creasing of the dresses and other garments draped thereover, and the outermost ends of the frame member are preferably provided with guards 42 which project beyond the bar 40 and retain the garments placed thereon against longitudinal movement off of the bar.

To properly arrange dresses or other garments, the frame or support 27 is removed or raised to a vertical position. The garments are then draped over the bar 40 with their bottom portions disposed between the cover 6 and the frame to be received in the well 22, their upper portions hanging downwardly, as clearly illustrated in Figure 1. Two or three garments or dresses may be arranged one above the other, and to hold the same against dropping into the compartment 11 when the frame is closed thereover, elastic straps 43 are provided which extend across the space between the side arms 29 of the frame, being readily detachably connected therewith by hooks 44 secured to their ends and received in apertures 45 formed in the arms 29. When the dresses or other garments have thus been draped on a frame and the elastic straps attached, the frame may be swung downwardly over the compartment 11 in which position it is supported by suitable stops 46 secured to the partition 12 and the opposite wall of the case.

The angular direction of the ends of the frame arms and the attaching members 31 places the point of pivot rearwardly and upwardly with respect to the compartment 11 so that when the case is closed it is received within the cover, and when the case is open and the frame is raised to its position illustrated in Figure 1, the raised position of the pivots 30 causes the bar 40 of the frame to above are draped over the adjacent edge of' substantially align with the top edge of the open cover, as best illustrated in Figure 3. This arrangement is particularly advantageous as it facilitates the removal of the in-' nermost garments from the frame.

When it isdesired to remove one of the innermost garments from the frame, the elastic straps 43 are removed, and those therethe cover where they are supported independently of the frame which may then be moved slightly forward and the desired garment removed without in any way disturbing the arrangement of the other garments. The remaining garments may be thenredraped over the bar 40.

By'omitting the shoe receiving compartment, the case may be adapted for only garments, thus reducing its overall length.

From the foregoing descriptiomtaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art to which an invention of the character described appertains, that we have provided an improved hand luggage carrier which may be constructed in an exceptionally light manner and which combines in a single convenient carrier, shoe and garment carrying facilities.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. In a case type luggage carrier including a main section member having a garment receiving compartment and a cover member hinged thereto, a substantially U shaped frame upon which garments may be draped, the garments being received over the closed end of the U shaped frame, and means pivotally mounting the frame in the garment receiving compartment whereby it is movable to a position over the open top of the garment receiving compartment to provide an internal cover therefor and-to a substantially vertical position approximately parallel with the cover member when open.

2. In a luggage carrier of the character described including a main section and a cover member hinged thereto, a garment carrying frame comprising side arms having their outer ends connected by a bar upon which garments may be draped, and attaching members pivotally connected with the opposite ends of the side arms to pivotally mount the frame in the carrier, the pivotal connection between the attaching members and the garment carrying frame side arms being juxtapose the hinged connection between the main section member and cover member and permiting movement of the frame independently of the cover member.

3. In a luggage carrier of the character described, a garment carrying frame comprising side arms having their outer ends connected by a bar upon which garments may be draped, attaching members pivotally connected with the opposite ends of the side arms, and means carried by the carrier for" removably receiving the attaching members whereby the frame is pivotally mounted with ifespect to the carrier and is removable thererom.

4. In a luggage carrier of the character described including a main section having a garment receiving compartment and a cover member hinged to the main section, a partition dividing the garment receiving compartment and forming a well, a garment carrying frame, means pivotally mounting the garment carrying frame at a point adjacent the well, whereby garments draped over the frame have a portion thereof positioned within the well, and said frame being movable to a position over the open top of the garment receiving compartment independently of the cover member.

5. In a luggage carrier of the character described including a main section having a garment receiving compartment and a cover member hinged to the main section, a partition dividing the garment receiving compartment and forming a well, a garment carrying frame, means pivotally mounting the garment carrying frame at a point adjacent the well whereby garments draped over the frame have a portion thereof positioned within the well, said frame being movable to a position over the open top of the garment receiving compartment independently of the cover member, and means preventing the garments carried thereby from dropping downwardly into the garment receiving compartment when the frame is moved to said position.

6. In a case type luggage carrier including a main section member and a cover member therefor, a garment carrying frame, means movably mount-ing the frame in the main section member to be movable independently of the cover member to a position adjacent the open cover of the case whereby garments draped thereon may be thrown back over the adjacent edge ofthe cover to facilitate the removal of the other garments carried by the frame.

7. In a case type luggage carrier including a main section member and a cover member therefor hingedly connected with themain section member adjacent one marginal edge, a garment carrying frame hingedly connected with the main section member adjacent the hinged connection of the cover member with the main section member, said garment carrying frame including a bar over which garments may be draped, and said frame being movable to a position at which its bar is substantially adjacent the free edge of the cover whereby garments draped thereon may be readily thrown back over the cover without disturbing their arrangement.

8. In a case type luggage carrier including a main section member and a cover member hingedly connected to one marginal edge thereof, a garment carrying frame, means hingedl frame or movement independently of cover member to lie over the main section member and for movement substantially parallel with that of the cover member, and means whereby the point of pivot of the garment carrying frame is disposed within the cover member when the garment carrying frame and the cover member are closed over the main section.

9. In a luggage carrier including a main section and a cover for the main section and hinged thereto along one side thereof, a garment carrying form, means pivotally mounting the garment carrying form in the carrier ad] acent to and parallel with the cover hinge, said garment carrying form being adapted to have garments draped over its free end and being movablewith the garments draped thereoverover the main section independently of the cover to provide an internal cover for the main section and being further adapted to be moved in correspondence with the cover whereby garments draped thereover may be thrown back over the cover to facilitate the removal of other garments carried by the form.

10. In a luggage carrier including a main section and a cover for the main section and hinged thereto along one side thereof, a garment carrying form, means pivotally mounting the garment carrying form in the carrier adjacent to and parallel with the cover hinge, said garment carrying form being adapted to have garments draped over its free end and being movablewith the garments draped thereoverover the main section independently of the cover to provide an internal cover for the main section and being further adapted to be moved in correspondence with the cover whereby garments draped thereover may be thrown back over the cover to facilitate the removal of other garments carried by the form, and fastening means retaining the undermost portions of the garments against the form when in position over the main section.

11. In a case type luggage carrier including a main section and a cover hingedly connected with one marginal edge thereof, a garment carrying frame including side arms, a member connecting the outer ends of the side arms and over which garments may be draped, attaching members pivotally connected with the inner ends of the side arms, means mounting the attaching members in the main section, the ends of said attaching members being extended angularly to position the pivot point between said members and frame side bar ends well intc the cover when the cover is closed over the main section.

12. In a luggage carrier of the character described, including a main section having mounting the garment carryirl jg a garment receiving compartment, 9. cover hingedly connected with the main section, a garment carrying frame of approximately U shape, means pivotally mounting the garment carrying frame at a point juxtapose the hinged connection between the cover and main section whereby the lower portions of garments draped over the frame are positioned close to the main section wall adjacent the cover hinge when the frame is in a vertical position, said frame being movable over the open top of the garment receiving compartment independently of the cover, and garment retaining means traversing the sides of the garment carrying frame at a point adjacent the pivotal mounting thereof whereby the extreme lower end portions of garments draped over the frame assume an angular position with respect thereto close to the rear wall of the main section when the frame is moved to a position over the top of the main section.

1.3. In a case type luggage carrier having hingedly connected main section and cover members, a garment carrying frame including side members and a transverse bar connecting the outer end portions of the side members and over which garments may be draped to hang on opposite sides of the frame, and means adjacent the hinge connection between said members for movably mounting the garment carrying frame for movement independently of the cover member to and from an approximately right angular position with respect to the main section member and an approximately horizontal position over the main section member.

14. In a case type luggage carrier having hingedly connected main section and cover members, each comprising rigid bottom and side walls and means limiting the opening movement of the cover member beyond a position approximately right angular with respect to the main section member, a garment carrying frame including side members and a transverse bar connecting the outer end portions of the side members and over which garments may be draped to hang on opposite sides of the frame, and means pivotally mounting the inner end portions of the garment carrying frame side members on a rigid wall of one member at a point adjacent the hinge connection between the sections, whereby the garment carrying frame may be swung in correspondence with the cover member to and from an approximately right angular position with respect to the main section member and to and from a position over the main section member, the angle of the first mentioned position of the garment carrying frame being defined by the means limiting the opening movement of the cover member.

15. In a case type luggage carrier having hingedly connected main section and cover members, a garment carrying frame including side members and a transverse bar connecting the outer end portions of the side members and over which garments may be draiped to hang on opposite sides of the frame,

an means pivotally mounting the garment carrying frame at a point adjacent the hinge connection between the sections for movement to and from an approximately hori zontal position over the main section member, and means carried by the garment carrying frame side members and extending thereover to support the under ortions of the garments draped over the rame when the frame is over the main section member and thus retain the garments from drooping into the'main section member.

16. A garment carrying case comprising a main section and a cover section, each section being constituted of rigidly connected walls,

said sections bein directly connected along one side thereof y a hinge connection, a garment carrying frame hinged within the case on an axis adjacent and parallel to said hinge connection, said frame including a 2 cross-bar parallel to and remote from said axis, and adapted to have garments folded thereover, said frame being of such dimension that when the case is closed said cross-bar lies adjacent the side of the main section opposite to that which carries the hinged connection, and when the case is open said crossbar may be disposed adjacent the, free edge of said cover section.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto aifixed our si natures.

' GE RGE HENRY WHEARY. BENJAMIN M. HAMLIN, 

